But even the most well-prepared adventurer can overlook certain hazards and the 27-year-old Cambridge graduate was certainly not expecting a visit by a light-fingered Mongolian horseman when he pitched his tent last Saturday.

In the middle of the night, the interloper tied his horse to the £1,000 cycle and galloped off, ripping Mr Genochio's tent in half as he slept.

The thief struck in Ulan Bator, the Mongolian capital, five months and 10,000 miles into Mr Genochio's attempt to cycle solo from Britain to China via the Gobi desert.

Yesterday he described the moment when his prized possession was stolen. "It was a rude awakening to say the least," he told the Telegraph.

"I was sleeping soundly in my tent when suddenly the world seemed to explode and implode all around me at once. I remember waking suddenly, hearing a cracking sound, a ripping sound, and then the noise of a horse neighing and then galloping away.

"My tent collapsed around me and in the pitch black I could see nothing. I fought to get out, afraid from the galloping sound that I was being trampled by a wild horse or perhaps a herd of wild horses."

He added: "For five months I have lived my whole life on my bicycle and in my tent. Suddenly to lose them both leaves me feeling completely hollowed out.

"Locals I have spoken to say they understand the feeling - it's the equivalent of a Mongolian nomad losing his yurt and his horse."

Mr Genochio had been waiting in Ulan Bator for a Chinese visa so that he could complete the final 2,000 miles to Shanghai.

His adventure, which he is doing to raise money for a development charity in China, has already taken him through France, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia and Siberia.

Despite the setback, he is determined not to give up and is appealing to bicycle manufacturers to provide him with a replacement.

In the meantime, he has been scouring the local market in the hope of finding his stolen bike. "There's no sign of it," he said. "Unfortunately, though there were plenty of bikes that might be okay for pottering around Ulan Bator, there was nothing available that I would trust to get me across the desert.

"For this leg more than any I need a bike that I can rely on. An unrepairable breakdown in the middle of the desert could be more than just inconvenient. It could be a life-threatening situation if I'm stranded far from water with no traffic on the road."

He has also contacted the British Embassy in Ulan Bator, which has made a "diplomatic" telephone call to the local police to see what, if any, progress is being made in investigating the theft.

He said: "I do not hold out great hope of anything being found, but it is nice that they are at least taking the trouble to investigate."

As a last resort, Mr Genochio said he would walk the remaining distance and buy a pram to carry his water.

"This thief really has thrown a spanner in the spokes, but having already come so far I'm not going to give up now," he said. "To have come this far, it would be heartbreaking not to be able to get to the end of the ride."